First Metro ETF back to profit in 2016 on asset growth

LISTED First Metro Philippine Equity Exchange-Traded Fund (FMETF) announced on Thursday it generated nearly P20 million net income in 2016, reversing the reported net loss of P52 million in 2015, on the strong growth of its assets under management (AUM).

In a statement, the exchange-traded fund said it achieved net income of P19.92 million in 2016 with its AUM at P864.61 million and stockholders’ equity at P863.45 million.

“The FMETF registered a 99.96 percent accuracy of tracking the country’s equities benchmark. The fund continues to outperform the market and remains as one of the best performing asset classes in the market,” the company said.

As of May 25, 2017, the FMETF had a one-year return of 6.69 percent and a three-year return of 6.07 percent.
At the FMETF annual stockholders’ meeting held earlier, the Board of Directors ratified the declaration of a 10 percent stock dividend payable on June 20, 2017.

First Metro ETF, the country’s first ETF, reflects the performance of the Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi), a basket of 30 publicly traded shares regarded as the benchmark of the market’s overall performance.

It is managed First Metro Investment Corp. (FMIC), the investment banking arm of the Metrobank Group and is one of the leading investment banks in the Philippines with over 50 years of service in the development of the country’s capital markets.